Merck &Co. Inc.

Merck &Co., Inc., referred to as Merck Sharp & Dohme(MSD) in nations outside North America, is one of the largest pharmaceutical corporations in the world, both by capital and revenue. Amongst other companies such as Johnson&Johnson, Pfizer, and others, Merck &CO. ranks in the top seven of the wealthiest pharmaceutical corporations. Although a very massive pharmaceutical enterprise indeed, the foundation of Merck &Co. was very humble. Merck &Co. can trace its modest roots and origins in the year 1668, when a German apothecary named Frederic Jacob Merck started a chemical firm in the city of Darmstadt, Germany. Two centuries into the future in 1891, George Merck firmly instituted the roots of his ascendant in the United States, and formally established Merck & Co., Inc in New York. In the beginning, Merck&Co was known as a fine chemicals supplier, providing different entities with a variety of chemical substances. It was in the 1930s when Merck &Co. began researching in pharmaceuticals and eventually entered the industry. For several decades since its commencement, Merck has benefited mankind with reliable and original pharmaceutical products which have improved the health of a variety of people, old and young. Merck helps those who are hooked on hamburgers. Drugs treating ailments associated with bad eating habits -- high cholesterol, hypertension, and heart failure -- are among Merck's biggest sellers. Its drugs include hypertension fighters Cozaar and Hyzaar and cholesterol combatants Vytorin, Zetia, and Zocor. Merck makes drugs in a broad range of other therapeutic areas as well: Propecia treats male pattern baldness, Singulair treats asthma, and Fosamax fights osteoporosis. In addition to pharmaceuticals, the company makes childhood and adult vaccines for such diseases as measles, mumps, hepatitis, and shingles. In 2006 Merck was awarded FDA approval for its cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil. Other than medicines, Merck has also contributed more than 480 million dollars to non-profit and education organizations.

I look up to the work that Merck&Co. has done for mankind through the products that it has created. Gardasil, a vaccine for the Human papillomavirus, has prevented probably millions of people around the world from contracting the painful sexually transmitted disease of HPL. Other Merck products such as Zostavax has furthermore prevented elderly people of 60 years and older from contracting shingles. Although a huge and wealthy corporation, Merck&Co. does not only have the objective of gaining more revenue but also has the goal to palliate and mitigate suffering around the world. I also admire that Merck and Co. has provided millions of dollars to education, something that never occured to me at all. Although Merck& Co., Inc. came to being as a small company, it has risen to possess 70,000 employees in 120 countries and 31 factories worldwide. Merck products are furthermore sold in more than 200 countries around the world. I would compare the rise of Merck& Co., Inc. to the expansion of the holy Knights Templar in the crusades in the medieval era. Both organizations started with humble origins but through many centuries and decades, grew into massive institutions.

http://www.merck.com/
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=MRK

An Audience from Dr. Pamela Fong

Presentation

On the morning of Thursday, April seventeenth, Ms. Pamela Fong came forth to descant upon us information regarding the eyes, essential organs that have the function of detecting light. In her own words, Dr Wong related to us that she has “practiced optometry longer than any of us have lived our lives.” Dr. Wong obtained her O.D. or Doctor of Optometry from the University of California in Berkeley. Furthermore, Dr. Wong also took courses in science such as Biology and Chemistry and received a Bachelors of Arts in Mathematics from San Francisco State University. In the beginning of her lecture, Ms. Wong first informed us that the fascinating organs that give us the sense of sight are truly complex structures. In fact, Dr Wong even reported to us that it took about four weeks for her to teach her college Optometry students all the full parts and functions of the eye. After the four-week lecture, the college students had to write a paper exceeding ten pages just on the eye and all the parts that comprise it. However, Dr. Fong gave into detail only the main parts of the eye, such as the cornea, iris, lens, retina, optic nerve, etc. I was quite baffled to discover that it would take weeks to study the parts and their functions within the eye. There is so much information that one can learn from the eyes, just like fossils from a decayed and deceased organism. By looking into the insides of the eyes, for example, one can determine the age of an individual. The eyes of a young person contain sheen, whitish parts in the eye. As the young person matures and grows, the sheen disappears from the eyes, just as our baby teeth come to be replaced by permanent teeth. You can furthermore discover if a person has a particular disease through his or her eyes. If the veins and nerves of an eye are narrow and thin, then the person whose eyes possess those traits has high blood pressure. Moreover, attenuated blood vessels and the visibility of bleeding in the eye indicate that the individual has diabetes. It was also explained By Dr. Fong that a person's eyes can convey to us their identity. When looking into the insides of the eyes of a blond person, one can see that the aqueous fluid, the fluid that fills the space between the lens and cornea, is colored red. Therefore, it can be determined that the eyes of blond people are reddish in the insides. In addition, I learned that nearsightedness is called myopia and farsightedness is also referred to as hyperopia. Myopia and hyperopia are both refractive errors which depend on how the eye responds to incoming eye. Overall, I learned many new ideas about the eyes from Dr. Fong. The fact that the you can determine age and diseases never occurred and was vague to me. Many interesting inquiries about the eye were answered in great detail by Dr. Fong, enlightening me more about the organ.The eye is such a fascinating and complex organ, and Dr. Fong did a a marvelous presentation about it. Thank you very much Dr. Fong for visiting Mills and thank you Mr. Olson for inviting her.
Dissection

1.	Cornea	7.	Ciliary Body
2.	Sclera	8.	Choroid
3.	Optic Nerve	9.	Tapetum Lucidum
4.	Iris	10.	Retina
5.	Pupil	11.	Lens
6.	Ora Serrata	12.	Vitreous Humor

It is said to fully understand the human eye, you must dissect it and look into its anatomy. That is what we certainly did after the guest lecture except we handled sheep eyes, which are nearly identical to the human eye itself. To my surprise, cutting through the parts of the eye, especially the cornea and the retina, was not easy task. The eye is a very tough and hardened structure and organ, not delicate and easily broken as I imagined. When I teared through the retina, the vitreous fluid spewed forth. The vitreous fluid itself was colored black, and resembled the blood color of a pig. I would have never expected that result but you learn something new everyday. In the midst of the oozing vitreous fluid and the uncanny odor came the pretty retina. The retina itself was a pretty bluish green which resembled the insides of a clam. It is true that in the midst of all ugliness, there is always something beautiful to behold.

http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/